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Topic: Birds on 100-400L with 70D (Read 10698 times)

I have a Canon 100-400L that is very sharp on my XTi. I would like to use it to shoot still photos and video of sitting small birds (warblers) or small birds moving about in vegetation (low light) on a to be purchased 70D. Do any of you who have posted the many fine bird photos on this forum have experience with a 100-400L on a 70D?Your comments will be greatly appreciated

I previously posted this on the Lenses Forum but only one person responded (THANKS for responding).

The 100-400 is a fine lens and produces outstanding results. I've taken literally thousands of photos with that lens, on my 7D and also on my 5Diii. One bit of advice: avoid shooting wide open if possible. It's ok at f4-5.6 but it really shines at f7.1 and f8.

The 100-400 is a fine lens and produces outstanding results. I've taken literally thousands of photos with that lens, on my 7D and also on my 5Diii. One bit of advice: avoid shooting wide open if possible. It's ok at f4-5.6 but it really shines at f7.1 and f8.

Be aware that its better to shoot wide open at ISO 400 then to use f/8 and ISO 800 due to noise. You lose more sharpness due to noise than to a wide open aperture.

So, if you can keep ISO at 400 or less, use f/8 or even f/11 at 400mm, its a tiny bit sharper, and edges are better. Just don't use ISO 800 or 1600, your images will suffer.

I was hoping to obtain at least this sharpness with my 100-400L and the to be purchased 70D.

Your warbler shot looks really good. If you have a nice 100-400 that gives you sharp shots like that on your xti then it will be good on the 70d also. I have a 40d which is the same as the xti sensor I think? Per pixel sharpness is about the same on the 70d but there are twice as many so it looks better viewed normal. You can shoot iso 1600 on the 70d no problems and you get a lot of useful features

Just remember to keep everything in perspective; a 70D will probably give different looking sharpness because of the extra resolution and also general changes in say the Digic processing, but the lens itself has not changed. So you might also need to adjust your post processing habits as well (e.g. different noise reduction or sharpening radius settings).

I was concerned that I might have some issues with pixel smearing and such going from the 40 to the 70 but have not seen it. One of the things I like best with the 70d is that it does a really good job with exposure and white balance. I set it to auto picture style, +6 sharpening, +1 saturation and get really good results straight out of the camera. I rarely ever have to make a wb adjustment later.

Since I upgraded to ff I bought many extra lenses, so I use it less often. Here a more recent one from a finch taken in Madeira in a rainy semi-cave with a waterfall (not much light there). I chose to bring the 100-400 over the 70-200 2.8 on that trip as I wanted to travel light yet remain versatile. No regrets.